Found out today that Vibram was sued and is settling a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit regards the notion that Vibram allegedly falsely marketed the Five Fingers as a shoe that would help decrease foot injury and strengthen feet. They recently settled the lawsuit, and the article I linked to proposes that Vibram is not taking responsibility for what their shoe has done to people. Why the fuck should it? I have not seen them market themselves as a shoes that heals injuries. Instead they market differently and tried to inform people of the potential benefits of barefoot running. However, if any of the people who tried barefoot running actually did a bit of "research," say by looking it up, you might find Ken Bob Saxton's website about barefoot running. Barefootrunning.com, you should find it easily. On his site, you will find information pertaining to barefoot running and how it is not something you can simply jump into at your full distance and speed. It takes transitioning because our legs and feet are not used to running barefoot. So, point being that, those who do their research and have a brain would find that simply putting something on their feet is not going to make everything all better for them. As an owner of a pair of Five Fingers and somebody who has had injury and success from wearing them, I can tell anybody that it is not the fault of the shoe, it is the fault of the individual wearing the shoe. Even the writer of the Washington Post article mentions having tried Five Fingers but said, "they forced me up onto the balls of my feet, where running coaches want you." What the writer failed to do before running in them was look up information. If he had, he would have found that you are actually not supposed to be up on your toes because it will cause more strain on your metatarsals. One is supposed to land very evenly, maybe on the balls of the foot first, but soon after the rest of the foot is supposed to take the weight to evenly distribute the load. Also, the article mentions that the "victim" sued Vibram because they marketed the Five Fingers as a means of making your feet stronger and decreasing foot injury. Maybe they did market themselves this way at one point, but in this marketing campaign statement, it says nothing to that effect. It instead mentions the feeling of freedom, seemingly because there is something freeing about being barefoot (or nearly barefoot). I do find it unfortunate that many runners injured themselves while trying minimalist running. However, we all need to stop trying to blame others for things that are our own faults. Again, maybe Vibram did market the Five Fingers in such a way that people easily believe what they were told. That does not mean one should not find out more information on their own. Heck, even just listen to one's own body. It will tell you if something is hurting way before a stress fracture occurs. This rant has deeper roots too. I am very irritated by the fact that people seem to take little responsibility for their own actions. Instead, they blame others and try to make those scapegoats pay for something that was not necessarily their fault. Yes, there are cases where we rely on something and, because of a fault in its creation or design, it fails and causes problems. When it is beyond the control of the individual who purchased and was negatively affected by the item/service, then yes the creator should possibly be held responsible. Cars are a great example. If a new new type of engine design causes the car to explode after 20,000 miles because of a design or manufacturing flaw, then the car company should definitely handle and fix the issue. However, with so many other things, people seem to completely avoid the possibility that it was their own fault that something negative happened that they simply seek to blame others. Take responsibility for your choices and actions!!! End rant.
